Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown endorsed the possibility of a U.S.-European Union trade agreement on Tuesday while visiting San Antonio.

“Both the European Union and America need more trade,” Brown said. “I believe that the way out of an economic crisis is not just what countries do within their own countries but by increasing trade with other countries.”

Separately and earlier in the day, Francois Rivasseau, deputy head of the European Union Delegation to the United States, said trade talks could commence after a U.S.-EU exploratory report on the feasibility of a trade agreement is made public in one or two months.

The United Kingdom is part of the 27-nation EU that has more than 500 million residents, although Britain is not part of the 17-nation euro currency zone.

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Rivasseau of France, who visited with San Antonio business leaders Tuesday, said the possible trade talks likely will encompass all business and industry sectors.

Private-sector estimates issued in advance of the report suggest that a U.S.-EU trade agreement could produce an increase in economic growth of 1 to 2 percent a year on both sides of the Atlantic and annual job growth of 500,000 and 1 million on each side, Rivasseau said.

Brown said any U.S.-EU trade agreements must break down current barriers in services, including financial services.

Rivasseau said tariffs will not be difficult to reconcile between the United States and Europe because most of the tariffs already are low, with only a few exceptions.

The main difficulty, Rivasseau said, will be in converging regulatory standards, such as on food safety, environment and even car production. But if that happens, such agreements would be significant because any common standards between the United States and Europe likely would become global standards, he said.

Brown led the British government during the height of the recession that affected Britain much as it did the United States. The conservative government that followed Brown's cut government spending under pressure to reduce debts.

Britain is back in recession after the government spending cuts, Brown said, having seen its economy shrink in five of the last nine quarters, including the last quarter of 2012.

With the United States facing a March 1 deadline that would trigger massive federal spending cuts, Brown warned against austerity moves.

“Government has to accept a responsibility to act, to increase the level of economic activity, if the economy is falling or about to collapse,” Brown said. “It must help with jobs, employment security and in providing a middle-class income.”

Between Brown's visits with Trinity students and his lecture, he found time to visit the Alamo, where he spotted his name as one of the Alamo defenders in the 1836 battle — James Brown. Brown's full name is James Gordon Brown.